Senate Democrats tell Trump envoy to explain undivested crypto stakes
Senate Democrats have called on Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, to explain why he has not divested from his crypto holdings despite federal ethics requirements.
In a letter led by Senator Adam Schiff, eight lawmakers pressed Witkoff for details on his interests in World Liberty Financial, the Trump-linked crypto firm he co-founded in 2024, and several affiliated entities.
Witkoff’s latest ethics disclosure, dated August 13, shows he still owns stakes in multiple crypto-related businesses, including WC Digital Fi and SC Financial Technologies. Lawmakers allege these investments pose potential conflicts of interest given his diplomatic role and the company’s business ties to the United Arab Emirates.
The scrutiny follows a New York Times report linking Witkoff’s crypto dealings to a US$2 billion Emirati investment in Binance funded through World Liberty Financial’s stablecoin, USD1.
Neither the White House nor World Liberty Financial has commented on the matter.
FalconX announced plans to acquire 21Shares, one of Europe’s leading crypto exchange-traded product issuers.
The deal, confirmed Wednesday, will integrate FalconX’s prime brokerage operations, which serves over 2,000 institutional clients, with 21Shares’ portfolio of 55 listed products across Bitcoin, Ether and other digital assets.
21Shares currently oversees more than US$11 billion in assets and will continue operating independently under CEO Russell Barlow following the deal. While the financial terms remain undisclosed, the transaction marks FalconX’s third major acquisition this year after Arbelos Markets and Monarq Asset Management.
Hong Kong regulators have approved the region’s first spot Solana ETF.
The Securities and Futures Commission granted authorization to China Asset Management Company to launch the Hua Xia Solana ETF on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on October 27. The product will trade through OSL Exchange, with OSL Digital Securities as sub-custodian and BOCI-Prudential Trustee serving as the primary custodian.
Each unit will consist of 100 shares, with a minimum investment of about US$100.
The fund’s debut makes Solana the third cryptocurrency — after Bitcoin and Ethereum — to receive regulatory approval for a spot ETF in Hong Kong.
Fed Governor Christopher Waller signaled a major policy shift during his opening remarks at the Payments Industry Conference on Tuesday (October 21), welcoming DeFi and crypto innovators into mainstream payments dialogue and proposing a new framework for direct access to Fed payment infrastructure for eligible firms.
In his speech, Waller recognized traditional banks and crypto-native fintechs as core stakeholders and stressed the Fed’s intent to be active in technology-driven payment revolutions like distributed ledger technology, tokenized assets and artificial intelligence (AI). The proposed payment accounts, referred to as skinny master accounts, would offer eligible nonbank entities direct access to the Fed’s payments rails, bypassing third-party banks, but without interest, overdraft protection or discount window access, and potentially with balance caps.
Waller said this tailored access aims to match the needs and risks of payment firms and digital asset companies with a simpler review. He also noted that the Fed is conducting hands-on research into tokenization, smart contracts and AI/payments intersection and will seek industry input on the new account framework.
Andreessen Horowitz’s most recent State of Crypto 2025 report highlights a new era in the cryptocurrency industry that the firm says is defined by real utility and maturing institutional adoption.
The authors point out stablecoins’ explosion as a dominant macroeconomic force, citing nearly US$46 trillion in processed transactions over the past year, a figure that rivals traditional payment systems.
The report also emphasizes infrastructure upgrades across blockchains like Ether and Solana, which have increased transaction speeds while lowering costs, as well as improved regulatory clarity in the US through supportive legislative actions, which have been major catalysts helping revive builder confidence and establish frameworks for digital asset oversight that balance innovation with investor protection.
World, the digital identity project formerly known as Worldcoin, is expanding into prediction markets by integrating Polymarket. The company, which is led by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, announced on Tuesday that its World app, a mobile app combining a digital wallet with a decentralized identity tool, has integrated the Polymarket app.
The launch of the Polymarket mini app on World enables World app users to place Polymarket bets directly from the World app wallet using Circle’s USDC or World’s token, Worldcoin.
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